An onboard theft was reported from the aircraft’s overhead lockers, on an Etihad service from Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong, which resulted in the aircraft being met by the police on arrival at the destination. While in this instance, it was diamonds that were stolen, the thief has been arrested. However, this is not the first time such an incident has been recorded.

In the past few months, multiple inflight thefts from the overhead bins have been reported (four in the past six months), but what makes this interesting and forms a pattern is the fact that these incidents all took place on board an Etihad aircraft operating flights from Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong.

An In-Flight Diamond Heist Foiled

Earlier this week, on Friday, December 26, an in-flight theft occurred onboard the Etihad Airways flight EY-870, operating from Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). Reports from platforms such as Travel and Tour World indicate that the theft was first identified by a passenger when they realized a diamond was missing from their belongings, thereby alerting the crew members onboard the flight.

As is the case in such situations, the flight crew would have notified the airport and local police authorities in advance, and thus, the flight was met with members of law enforcement upon arriving in Hong Kong, and the suspect was apprehended and detained for questioning. On one hand, the swift response from the local authorities and the airport security team is a positive sign of readiness and responsiveness from the relevant authorities, ensuring such an incident is handled in a timely manner. However, it is never a good sign when incidents of such nature become recurrent, following a pattern.

Unfortunately, this is the fourth such incident regarding onboard theft being reported on this particular route operated by Etihad over the course of the past six months. Simple Flying has reached out to the airline for more information; any response will be updated in this article.

Multiple Onboard Theft Incidents

While there have been multiple incidents of such thefts over the years, it has become a bit concerning because this particular route has been targeted in recent months, with multiple incidents of the same nature being reported on the same route operated by the same airline. Earlier in December, there was another theft reported where a passenger reported some of their credit cards missing whilst onboard the aircraft.

Apart from the most recent thefts in December, an earlier incident took place in November, during which, according to reports from View From The Wing, a mainland Chinese passenger was arrested onboard the Etihad service from Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong, for stealing multiple credit cards from another passenger’s luggage, which was stored inside an overhead locker. Prior to that, during the summer, reports indicate that three passengers were arrested for theft on the flight to Hong Kong.

Furthermore, while this particular route has seen multiple incidents, there are reports indicating that this is an issue on flights operating to the broader Southeast Asian market, covering other countries such as Singapore and Malaysia as well. According to reports from Travel Weekly Asia, this trend has been flagged by the International Air Travel Association (IATA) over the course of the past 12 to 18 months, specifically on routes to Asian destinations.

Can The Airlines Do Anything?

While there are no straightforward solutions to prevent passengers intending to commit theft onboard, it would be possible for crew members onboard to perhaps be diligent when flying on certain routes that commonly see such incidents. Even then, this is something that can happen at any time, and as per past incidents, it usually happens when the cabin is dark, and passengers are mostly sleeping; therefore, it is highly likely that even the crew members will be stationed at the galley rather than the passenger aisles.

Perhaps a more robust solution would be for the crew members to keep an eye on the cabin from their stations or the galleys, is to utilize the camera system, which many modern aircraft have these days, which would provide the crew members with a view of the cabin.

It is worth noting that quite often, cameras can be found within the In-Flight Entertainment systems and seatback screens of aircraft. However, these are just integrated into the standard hardware used for such systems, and most airlines do not utilize these camera system, making it impossible for the airline or any passenger to use the camera function on their IFE. Of course, there are a few exceptions.